Rugby Australia will take no further action against physical fan following altercation

Rugby Australia will not take any action against a fan that was involved in a physical altercation with Wallabies flanker Lukhan Tui following their loss 23-19 loss to the Pumas on Saturday night.

Tui and a fan were involved in an ugly incident at the Wallabies’ reserves seating at the bottom of the grandstand where players were being greeted by family. It is alleged the man pushed Tui’s younger sister and told the 21-year-old to “play with more heart” before he began to grapple with the player.

The fan was eventually detained by security and ejected from the stadium by police.

Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle said after an investigation into the incident and after communication with Tui, no action would be taken against the fan.

The rugby world has rallied around Wallabies flanker Lukhan Tui after he was involved in a shocking confrontation with a fan following Australia’s loss to the Pumas on the Gold Coast on Saturday night.

As the Wallabies slip to a demoralising seventh in the world rankings, the need for a change in direction has never been clearer. These lost Wallabies souls need revitalising, the time to act is now — Greg Growden writes.

How did the Springboks manage to beat the All Blacks with just 25 percent possession? Surely the Wallabies’ experiment with Kurtley Beale at No.10 is at an end? Meanwhile, Mario Ledesma is in the same sweet spot Michael Cheika occupied in 2015.

2 Related

“This incident was not something you want to see at any sporting event. Emotions were running high after the match on Saturday night and I understand why Wallabies fans are frustrated after a result like that,” Castle said in a statement.

“Wallabies team management have been in dialogue with Lukhan since the incident and he has indicated that he does not wish to pursue the matter any further and therefore no further action will be taken by Rugby Australia.”

RA will continue to review security measures in light of the incident.

“The interaction between players and fans is an extremely important part of sport and we never want to see an incident like this again. We want Rugby fans to be able to get up close and personal with their heroes and our Wallabies stars.

“We feel that this is an isolated incident and we haven’t experienced anything like this in our game in the past, so we don’t want to race into any hasty measures.”